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How Filr Works–Overview Guide
Filr 1.1
November 21, 2014
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Contents 3
Contents
About This Guide 7
1 Filr Overview 9
1.1 What Is Novell Filr? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
1.2 Filr Features and Functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
1.3 Why Novell Appliances? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2 Setting Up Filr 13
2.1 Getting and Preparing Filr Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.1 Hyper-V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
2.1.2 VMware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
2.1.3 Xen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2 Deploying Filr Appliances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.1 Small Filr Deployment Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.2 Large Filr Deployment Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
2.3 Initial Configuration of Filr Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
2.3.1 Small Filr Deployment Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.3.2 Large Filr Deployment Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
2.4 Filr Clustering (Expanding a Deployment) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.5 Integrating Filr Inside Your Network Infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
2.5.1 A Small Filr Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
2.5.2 A Large Filr Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
2.6 Ports Used in Filr Deployments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
2.7 There Are No Changes to Existing Servers or Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3 Filr Administration 29
3.1 Filr Administrative Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2 Ganglia Appliance Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
3.3 Updating Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
3.4 Certificate Management in Filr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
3.5 Filr Site Branding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4 Access Rights and Filr 35
4.1 Filr Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
4.2 Access to Files and Folders Is Controlled by the File System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
4.3 How Users Get the Required Access Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
4.3.1 Roles and Net Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.3.2 Roles and Shared with Me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
4.4 Access Through Filr Involves One of Four Possible Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.4.1 My Files (Personal Storage) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
4.4.2 Home Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.4.3 Net Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
4.4.4 File Attributes Are Always Honored. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
4.5 Role Requirements Are Rigidly Enforced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.5.1 NSS Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.5.2 NTFS Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
4 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
4.6 Rights to Files and Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
4.6.1 Access Is Always Controlled by the File System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.7 Sharing Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
4.8 Windows Share Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
4.9 Access-based Enumeration (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
5 Filr Comments 45
6 Filr Email Notifications 47
7 Filr Indexing and Searching 49
7.1 What Is Indexed and When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
7.2 About Filr Content Indexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
8 Filr Licensing 51
9 My Files (Personal Storage) 53
9.1 Understanding My Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
9.2 Enabling Personal Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
9.2.1 Personal Storage for All LDAP Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
9.2.2 Personal Storage for Individual Users and/or Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
9.3 Restricting Disk Space Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
9.4 Home Folders Vs. Net Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
9.5 My Files Sharing Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
10 Net Folders 57
10.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
10.2 Specifying Net Folder Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
10.3 Specifying Net Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
10.4 Net Folder Proxy Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
10.4.1 The Functions Facilitated by Net Folder Proxy Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
10.4.2 Rights Required for Net Folder Proxy Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
10.4.3 Net Folder Proxy User Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
10.5 Granting Access to Net Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
11 Protocols and Filr 67
12 Sharing through Filr 69
12.1 Setting Up Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
12.1.1 System-Level Sharing Must Be Set Up First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
12.1.2 My Files Sharing Is Automatic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
12.1.3 Net Folder Sharing Must Be Explicitly Allowed At Two Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
12.2 Understanding Roles and Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
12.2.1 User Roles and Sharing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
12.2.2 Users Can’t Grant Share Roles That They Don’t Have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
12.2.3 File System Rights Also Affect the Ability to Assign Share Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
12.3 A Caution Regarding the Re-sharing Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Contents 5
13 Filr Synchronization 77
13.1 Synchronization Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
13.2 Net Folder Synchronization Detail Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
13.3 Net Folder File Content Indexing Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
14 Network Time and Filr 83
15 Viewing Files as HTML in Filr 85
16 Users and Groups with Filr 87
16.1 Leveraging the Built-in Security of eDirectory and Active Directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
16.2 Provisioning Users and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
16.2.1 User Provisioning Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
16.2.2 Types of Filr Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
16.2.3 The Role of Groups in Filr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
16.3 LDAP Proxy User Role and Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
A Documentation Updates 91
6 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
About This Guide 7
About This Guide
This guide contains high-level overviews of Novell Filr and covers the following topics:
Chapter 1, “Filr Overview,” on page 9
Chapter 2, “Setting Up Filr,” on page 13
Chapter 3, “Filr Administration,” on page 29
Chapter 4, “Access Rights and Filr,” on page 35
Chapter 5, “Filr Comments,” on page 45
Chapter 6, “Filr Email Notifications,” on page 47
Chapter 7, “Filr Indexing and Searching,” on page 49
Chapter 8, “Filr Licensing,” on page 51
Chapter 9, “My Files (Personal Storage),” on page 53
Chapter 10, “Net Folders,” on page 57
Chapter 11, “Protocols and Filr,” on page 67
Chapter 12, “Sharing through Filr,” on page 69
Chapter 13, “Filr Synchronization,” on page 77
Chapter 14, “Network Time and Filr,” on page 83
Chapter 15, “Viewing Files as HTML in Filr,” on page 85
Chapter 16, “Users and Groups with Filr,” on page 87
Appendix A, “Documentation Updates,” on page 91
Audience
This guide is intended for Novell Filr administrators.
Feedback
Please use the User Comments feature at the bottom of each online documentation page to comment
and suggest improvements to this guide and the other documentation included with Novell Filr.
Documentation Updates
The most recent version of this guide is available here (http://www.novell.com/documentation/novell-
filr1/filr1_overvw/data/bookinfo.html) on the Novell Filr Web site.
Additional Documentation
For other Novell Filr documentation, see the Novell Filr Web site (http://www.novell.com/
documentation/novell-filr1/).
8 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
1
Filr Overview 9
1
Filr Overview
Today’s workers expect to access work files like they do personal files.
Some of them are moving work files to cloud-based services, which causes their risk managers to
lose sleep.
Novell Filr offers modern file access without compromising existing security systems.
Section 1.1, “What Is Novell Filr?,” on page 9
Section 1.2, “Filr Features and Functionality,” on page 10
Section 1.3, “Why Novell Appliances?,” on page 11
1.1
What Is Novell Filr?
Novell Filr provides file access and sharing, and lets users access their home directories and network
folders from mobile devices and the Web. Users can also synchronize their files to their PC and Mac
computers. They can also share files internally and externally, and comment on files.
Figure 1-1 Mobile Access to Enterprise Data
Users: Filr lets you control the following:
User authentication inside and outside your organization
Access to organization files and folders that were previously accessible only through
mapped drives
Access to personal files and folders in Filr-based storage in addition to traditional Windows,
OES, and NetWare home directories
Internal and external sharing of files and folders
Access Devices and Methods: Filr provides multiple access methods.
A Web (browser-based) application
An app for Apple iOS 6 (and later) personal devices
An app for Android 2.3.X (and later) personal devices
Clients for Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 8 workstations
A client for Macintosh OS X 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9 workstations
Filr Virtual Appliance:
This runs on VMware, Xen, and Hyper-V hypervisors.
w
Access Devices and Methods Filr Virtual Appliance Existing File ServersUsers
Internal
External
10 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
It lets users authenticate using their eDirectory and Active Directory usernames and
passwords.
It provides access to data on NetWare, OES, and Windows servers that use native file
protocols (NCP and CIFS).
Existing File Servers: Are not impacted because Filr does the following:
Requires no changes to file servers
Honors file system trustee rights and attributes
Your Novell and Windows file servers and directory services retain complete control over all
file- and folder-related activity.
1.2
Filr Features and Functionality
Figure 1-2 shows Filr’s main features in the context of your existing network infrastructure. The table
that follows the figure briefly describes each feature and how all of the components shown fit together
to provide Filr services.
Figure 1-2 What Filr Provides
eDirectory
Users
Active
Directory
Users
Firewall
Filr Access
Devices
My Files
Net Folders
Search
Synchronization
Sharing
Filr
NetWare Server
Windows Server
w
OES Server
Filr Data Disk
Comments
External
Users
Other
Internal
Users
A
B C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
Filr Overview 11
1.3
Why Novell Appliances?
Novell appliances simplify the Novell development and delivery model for Filr so that we can provide
you with new services more quickly.
Novell appliance benefits include the following:
Simplified Deployment: Filr appliances are built on specific and tuned operating systems
(SLES 11 SP3 in the case of Filr 1.1). This means that you don’t have to install the operating
system, select the packages, and so on because everything needed is included and ready to
configure and run.
Letter Details
eDirectory and Active Directory: You synchronize Filr with eDirectory and Active Directory
identity stores through LDAP. See “Synchronizing Users and Groups from an LDAP Directory” in
the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Local Users: You can create users on the Filr system independent of any LDAP source. For
more information, see “Creating a New Local User” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
External Users: When a user outside the organization responds to an invitation to share a file or
folder, Filr creates a username using the invitation’s email address. When users accept these
invitations, they can set their passwords. For more information, see “Sharing Files and Folders”
in the Novell Filr 1.1 Web Application User Guide.
Filr lets users access files and folders through the following:
A Web (browser-based) application
Apps for Apple iOS 6 and later and Android 2.3.X and later
Clients for Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Macintosh OS X 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9
workstations
Filr is designed to work with your security infrastructure. Your firewalls continue to protect your data
while Filr provides access to it from practically anywhere. For more information, see “Site Security” in
the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Filr lets users collaborate by supporting user comments on files and folders. For more information, see
“Filr Comments” on page 45.
Filr lets users access their personal files and folders on either or both traditional home directories and
local Filr storage. For more information, see “My Files (Personal Storage)” on page 53.
Filr lets users access your organization’s files and folders that were previously available only through
mapped drives. For more information, see “Net Folders” on page 57.
Filr lets users search for files and folders that they have rights to access. If indexing is enabled on a
folder, they can search within the content of the folder’s files as well. For more information, see “Filr
Indexing and Searching” on page 49.
Filr lets users share files in Net Folders, and files and folders in My Files, with internal and external
users. For more information, see “Sharing through Filr” on page 69.
Filr lets you synchronize eDirectory and Active Directory users as well as files and folders according to
your organization’s needs. For more information, see “Filr Synchronization” on page 77.
Filr provides access to storage on Novell file servers, Windows file servers, and personal storage on
the Filr appliance.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
12 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
By the same token, packages and services that aren’t needed aren’t included, and therefore they
don’t consume system resources.
Simplified Management: Appliances include the following:
Appliance-specific configuration wizards to configure exactly and only what is required.
Web-based administration tools for changing configurations, adding or provisioning users,
and so on, from basically anywhere that you need to be.
2
Setting Up Filr 13
2
Setting Up Filr
This section presents high-level overviews of the following setup tasks. For detailed setup information
and instructions, see the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.
Section 2.1, “Getting and Preparing Filr Software,” on page 13
Section 2.2, “Deploying Filr Appliances,” on page 16
Section 2.3, “Initial Configuration of Filr Appliances,” on page 18
Section 2.4, “Filr Clustering (Expanding a Deployment),” on page 21
Section 2.5, “Integrating Filr Inside Your Network Infrastructure,” on page 23
Section 2.6, “Ports Used in Filr Deployments,” on page 26
Section 2.7, “There Are No Changes to Existing Servers or Systems,” on page 27
2.1
Getting and Preparing Filr Software
The process of getting and preparing Filr software is straightforward, as illustrated in the following
sections.
Section 2.1.1, “Hyper-V,” on page 13
Section 2.1.2, “VMware,” on page 14
Section 2.1.3, “Xen,” on page 15
For more information, see “Installing the Filr Appliance,” “Installing the Search Index Appliance,” and
“Installing the MySQL Database Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.
2.1.1
Hyper-V
Figure 2-1 Downloading and Preparing Novell Appliances for Hyper-V
appliance-
version
.vhd.zip
Or
Novell
Authorized
Reseller
download
.novell
.com
Unzip
the le
This is the system disk.
As you create the
appliance VM in Hyper-
V Manager, you connect
to this as the VM’s boot
disk.
A
B C
.vhd
14 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
2.1.2
VMware
Figure 2-2 Downloading and Preparing Novell Appliances for VMware
Letter Details
You can download the
.zip
archive files for the Hyper-V build of the three Novell Filr appliances
(Filr, Search, and MySQL) directly from the Novell Download Site, or you can obtain them
through your Novell Authorized Reseller.
Unzip the archive to expose the appliance system disk image. For more information, see
“Installing the Filr Appliance,” “Installing the Search Index Appliance,” and “Installing the MySQL
Database Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.
The
.vhd
file is a Hyper-V disk image that contains all of the appliance’s system files.
You connect to this file in Hyper-V Manager by selecting the Use an existing virtual hard disk
option.
Unlike VMware and Xen, no pre-configured settings file is supplied for the VM. Instead you
specify the RAM, network card, additional disks, and so on as instructed in the Novell Filr 1.1
Installation and Configuration Guide.
A
B
C
Letter Details
You can download the
.zip
archive files for the VMware build of the three Novell Filr appliances
(Filr, Search, and MySQL) directly from the Novell Download Site, or you can obtain them
through your Novell Authorized Reseller.
Unzip the archives to expose a folder that contains the three files needed for deployment. For
more information, see “Installing the Filr Appliance,” “Installing the Search Index Appliance,” and
“Installing the MySQL Database Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration
Guide.
appliance-
version
.zip
Or
Novell
Authorized
Reseller
download
.novell
.com
Unzip
appliance-version
.mf
.ovf
.vmdk
For verifying the
integrity of the
download.
The initial appliance
conguration settings.
You deploy this in
VMware.
The system virtual
disk.
A
B C
A
B
Setting Up Filr 15
2.1.3
Xen
Figure 2-3 Downloading and Preparing Novell Appliances for Xen
The
.mf
file contains an SHA1 digest that VMware uses to verify the integrity of the other two
files.
The
.ovf
file contains the virtual appliance’s configuration settings. You open and deploy this
file in VMware to create the Filr appliance. You modify its settings during the initial deployment
phase.
The
.vmdk
file is the virtual appliance’s (VA’s) system virtual disk and contains all VA system
files. It comes ready for the initial start-up and configuration.
Letter Details
C
Letter Details
You can download the
.zip
archive files for the Xen build of the three Novell Filr appliances
(Filr, Search, and MySQL) directly from the Novell Download Site, or you can obtain them
through your Novell Authorized Reseller.
Untar the archives to expose a folder that contains the two files needed for deployment. For
more information, see “Installing the Filr Appliance,” “Installing the Search Index Appliance,” and
“Installing the MySQL Database Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and Configuration
Guide.
The
.raw
file contains the system disk image. You open this file in Xen to begin the deployment
process
The
.xenconfig
file contains the virtual appliance’s configuration settings. You modify its
settings during the initial deployment phase.
appliance-
version
.xen.tar.gz
Or
Novell
Authorized
Reseller
download
.novell
.com
Untar
the le
appliance-version
.raw
.xenconfig
The appliance system disk
image.
You open this in Xen.
The VM conguration
settings.
Xen automatically looks
for this le.
A
B C
A
B
C
16 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
2.2
Deploying Filr Appliances
After you have obtained and extracted the appliance software, you need to deploy it on your VMware
host server, as illustrated in Figure 2-4 and Figure 2-5 and as explained in the tables that follow them.
For more specific information about the different deployment models, see “Planning the Deployment
Type” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Administration Guide.
Section 2.2.1, “Small Filr Deployment Overview,” on page 16
Section 2.2.2, “Large Filr Deployment Overview,” on page 17
2.2.1
Small Filr Deployment Overview
NOTE: After initial VM preparation is completed, deploying on Hyper-V and Xen is comparable to the
VMware steps illustrated below.
Figure 2-4 A Small Deployment of Filr on VMware
Letter Details
Using the vSphere client, access the VMware host server and deploy the
.ovf
template file.
Specify the hostname and IP address. If possible, the system determines the mask and
gateway, and automatically populates those fields.
The network interface is bridged by default. Make sure this setting matches the network
configuration in your VMware environment.
A second disk is needed for the following reasons:
Adequate personal storage disk space—personal files are stored here.
Separation of system and data files to facilitate appliance updates—data files are stored
here.
You might want to also change the RAM allocation and the number of CPUs.
A third disk is needed for storing log files, which prevents the system disk from running out of
space.
Start the appliance.
vSphere Client
and VMware Host
Server
.mf
.ovf
.vmdk
A
E
D
C
Log disk (/var)
(mandatory)
Virtual Machine
Conguration
Settings
Virtual Appliance
on
VMware Host
Basic Appliance
Settings
Power
On
Edit
Appliance
Running
● Add a Hard Disk
● RAM
● CPU
● Passwords
● Network
● Time
Filr, Search, and MySQL
Set
B
Data disk (/vastorage)
(mandatory)
A
B
C
D
Setting Up Filr 17
2.2.2
Large Filr Deployment Overview
NOTE: After initial VM preparation is completed, deploying on Hyper-V and Xen is comparable to the
VMware steps illustrated below.
Figure 2-5 A Large Deployment of Filr
Specify the appliance’s basic configuration, which includes administrative users’ passwords, IP
address settings, and the time zone and NTP time source.
These settings are common to all Novell appliances.
Letter Details
E
Letter Details
Using the vSphere client, access the VMware host server and deploy the
.ovf
template file.
Specify the hostname and IP address. If possible, the system determines the mask and
gateway, and automatically populates those fields.
The network interface is bridged by default. Make sure this setting matches the network
configuration in your VMware environment.
vSphere Client
and VMware Host
Server
Filr-version
.mf
.ovf
.vmdk
A
F
E
C
Log disk (/var)
(mandatory)
Virtual Machine
Conguration
Settings
Virtual Appliance
on
VMware Host
Basic Appliance
Settings
Shared disk
(if clustering)
D
Power
On
Edit
Appliance
Running
G
Data disk (/vastorage)
(mandatory)
Data disk
(mandatory)
H
Filrsearch-version
MySQL-version
Same process as Filr
Same process as Filr
● Add Hard Disks
● RAM
● CPU
● Passwords
● Network
● Time
Same process as Filr
Same process as Filr
Appliance
Running
Appliance
Running
Filr
Search
MySQL
Set
B
Data disk (/vastorage)
(mandatory)
Log disk (/var)
(mandatory)
Log disk (/var)
(mandatory)
A
18 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
2.3
Initial Configuration of Filr Appliances
After you have deployed the appliances and set a few basic system settings, such as passwords, you
must perform an initial appliance configuration. The process varies, depending on which deployment
scenario you are implementing.
Section 2.3.1, “Small Filr Deployment Configuration,” on page 18
Section 2.3.2, “Large Filr Deployment Configuration,” on page 19
2.3.1
Small Filr Deployment Configuration
Starting and configuring an all-in-one Filr appliance is quite straightforward, as illustrated in Figure 2-
6 and explained in the table that follows it.
A second disk is needed for the following reasons:
Adequate personal storage disk space
Separation of system and data files to facilitate appliance updates
You might want to also change the RAM allocation and the number of CPUs.
A third disk is needed for storing log files, which prevents the system disk from running out of
space.
If you are clustering the Filr VA, add a shared CIFS or NFS disk to all of the Filr VAs in the
cluster to use.
This only applies to the Filr VA, not to the Search or MySQL appliances.
Start the appliance.
Specify the appliance’s basic configuration, which includes administrative users’ passwords, IP
address settings, and the time zone and NTP time source.
These settings are common to all Novell appliances.
If you are installing separate appliances, you need to deploy at least one and preferably two
search appliances as well. The process is very similar to a Filr VA deployment, except that the
search appliances don’t use shared storage.
Installing separate appliances also requires configuring a MySQL or MS SQL database.
Deploying the MySQL appliance that comes with Filr is very similar to the process for Filr and
the search appliances.
If you already have a MySQL or MS SQL database in your organization, you can use it instead
of the MySQL appliance that comes with Filr.
Letter Details
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Setting Up Filr 19
Figure 2-6 Configuring an All-in-One Filr Appliance
For more information, see“Configuring a Small Deployment for the First Time” in the Novell Filr 1.1
Installation and Configuration Guide.
2.3.2
Large Filr Deployment Configuration
Starting and configuring the appliances for a large deployment is more involved than for a single
appliance. However, the process is well documented and also very straightforward, as illustrated in
Figure 2-7 and explained in the table that follows it.
Notice that the order of working with the three appliance types is reversed from the order in Figure 2-
5 on page 17.
Letter Details
Access and configure the Filr appliance through a browser.
Log in to the administration console.
Run the configuration wizard.
When you finish, your all-in-one appliance is running and ready to provide Novell Filr services.
Web Browser
Connected to
Virtual Appliance
https://ip_address:9443 vaadmin/password
● Small Deployment
Administration
Welcome Screen
Conguration
Wizard
All-In-One
Filr Appliance
Filr
Administrator
Filr, Search, and MySQL
A
B C
A
B
C
20 How Filr Works–Overview Guide
Figure 2-7 Configuring Separate Appliances
Letter Details
First, access and configure the Search appliances through a browser, logging in to the
administration console, and running the configuration wizard.
When you finish this step, your Search appliances are running and ready to provide indexing
services for Filr.
For details, see “Installing the Search Index Appliance” in the Novell Filr 1.1 Installation and
Configuration Guide.
Filr
Administrator
Web Browser
to Search Appliance
https://ip_address:9443 vaadmin/password
Administration
Welcome Screen
Conguration
Wizard Search Appliance
A
● Click New
● Create Password
(Lucene User)
● Click Submit
Search
Web Browser
to MySQL Appliance
https://ip_address:9443 root/root
Administration
Welcome Screen
Conguration
Wizard
MySQL Appliance
B
● Add user = filr
● Host = filr_hostname_
or_ipaddress
● Password = Password
● Select Create Database
with Same Name ...
MySQL
root/password
Administration
Welcome Screen
Conguration
Wizard
Filr Appliance
Web Browser
to Filr Appliance
https://ip_address:9443
C
Pick an Option
● Large Deployment
MySQL Configuration
● Host Name = mysql _
hostname_or_ipaddress
● User Name = filr
● User Password = lr_
mysql_user_password
Search Configuration
● Host Name = search_
hostname_or_ipaddress
● Lucene User Password =
lucene_user_password
● Default Locale = filr_
locale
Filr
A
/